


Who's That Girl?

by Sadbhyl



Series: Smith & Harkness [3]
Category: Sarah Jane Adventures, Sarah Jane Smith (Big Finish Audio), Torchwood
Genre: F/M, Gen, Jossed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-30
Updated: 2011-08-30
Packaged: 2017-10-23 06:38:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/247295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sadbhyl/pseuds/Sadbhyl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack has questions. Does the mysterious Miss Smith have the right answers?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who's That Girl?

**Author's Note:**

> This series was originally written waaaay back when, starting in May of 2006, shortly after School Reunion aired and a few months before the premiere of Torchwood, when the Sarah Jane Adventures were barely an idea. Which explains some of the poor characterization in the early chapters, especially Ianto. I struggled with the idea of revising to fit canon, but decided to leave it as an archive. Everything's pretty much Jossed, but have fun with it anyway.

  
Jack had to admire the woman’s grace under fire. The informal setting of the conference room and the fact that she wasn’t bound couldn’t disguise the fact that this Sarah Jane Smith was facing a grueling interrogation, one which would determine her status and possibly even her freedom. But where even Gwen, with her training and experience, had grown defensive and flustered, Sarah just leaned back in her chair, hands folded neatly over her stomach, studying each of them in turn as she answered their questions.

Jack couldn’t help but admire her.

Gwen was the one leading the questioning this time. “One more time, Miss Smith, how did you find us?”

“I followed the line of breadcrumbs from One Canary Wharf to here.” Sarah shook her head benignly. “Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t had more such visits.”

“And your interest in Torchwood is, what, professional?”

“I could hardly expect to be allowed to do an article about a covert organization, could I, Miss Cooper,” she conceded graciously. “Call it more academic interest. I have a certain amount of experience with these things, and no clandestine government agency should be allowed to operate without some outside oversight.”

Gwen sneered. “So you’re offering yourself up as our conscience?”

Sarah met her glare without flinching. “Precisely.”

“You aren’t fooling anyone,” Ianto snapped, shoving forward a sheaf of papers. “First you were attached to UNIT with the highest clearances, and then you disappeared. No record of you anywhere for over five years. Then you spent twenty years building a reputation for yourself as a cutting edge investigative journalist. We do get Planet Three here in Cardiff, Miss Smith.” His tone still suspicious, he continued, drawing the pages back as he read off information from them. “Then six years ago you were ousted from that position for ethics violations, only to turn up again the following year connected to a terrorist attempt employing Sarin gas in the Tube, and then last year you were one of the first civilians to travel into space. It seems to me you’ve gone from reporting the news to becoming it.” His eyes narrowed. “Tell me, Miss Smith, how exactly did you escape from the Dauntless when it went derelict?”

A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Which answer will satisfy you? That it was aliens? Or magic?”

The team grumbled, and Ianto was just drawing breath to retort when Jack decided to intervene. “Which was it?”

She turned her gaze on him for the first time, and suddenly Jack had the sense that she could see right through him. That gentle smile turned into a shrug. “A bit of both, really. It was…complicated.”

There was no prevarication in her words. Jack was pretty good at reading people, and this one was interesting. Complicated, yeah, and not entirely forthcoming, but in general she wasn’t a liar. She was the type who could get more with the truth.

And beneath that, he felt a sense of camaraderie with her. He couldn’t explain it, but he’d learned a long time ago to trust his instincts.

He didn’t bother consulting with the others. Instead he stood up, walked to the end of the table where she sat and offered her his hand. “Welcome to the team, Miss Smith.”

For one long moment, she didn’t take it, her head cocked to the side as though gauging his sincerity. When finally her small hand reached out to grasp his larger one, it was almost a relief. “Thank you, Jack.”

The tingle along his spine shooting straight to his groin was easy enough to explain.


End file.
